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HOME / PRODUCT CATEGORIES / SPECIALTY / BLOWER - SQUIRREL CAGE (12V)
Customer Reviews
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Blower - Squirrel Cage (12V)
COM-11270 ROHS
20
DESCRIPTION FEATURES
This DC Blower really moves some air! Pulling about 1Amp @ 12VDC, this
blower is rated at 16CFM (although it seems like more to us). We’ve used this
blower to build small hovercrafts and to cool off on a hot day, they’re also handy
for inflating “transforming” e-textiles garments!
Blower - Squirrel Cage (12V) Product Help and Resources
1 of 1 found this helpful:
Power Supply Requirements
last updated about 9 months ago
These units require 1.6A to start up. Only after reaching the 1.6A startup load can the unit continue to function at 0.6A.
We recommend using this power supply.
SUPPORT TIPS SKILLS NEEDED
COMMENTS 63 REVIEWS 20
3.6 out of 5
Based on 20 ratings:
1 of 1 found this helpful:
WOW! Well worth the money!
about 2 years ago by Member #712688 verified purchaser
I purchased this blower fan to provide air-cooling for my kegerator setup. I have a fridge in my garage, and
taps in my bar, with about 7ft of otherwise unconditioned lines between the two. I used this fan to blow to cool
air through a 1" flexible bilge pump hose to the top of the tower, and had the return air travel between the
outside of that hose and the inside of a 2.5" flexible vacuum hose back to the fridge (this space is also where
the beer lines are routed).
I previously purchased a 12CFM blower fan off amazon which pulled 0.3A @ 12VDC (for the same price incl
shipping), and the temperature at the top of the tower was a mere 62degF. After replacing with this fan, the
entire (insulated) tower sweats like a cold glass of water on a hot day. I actually reduced the voltage to around
10VDC because it was more than I needed.
If my other blower is a true 12CFM, this is probably more like 36CFM. Given their similar plastic squirrel-cage
design I can assume they have similar efficiency, and so this one which draws 3x the current probably moves
3x the air.
Its plastic design may not be durable enough for extreme uses, but I think in most applications this will stand up
very well. BUY IT!
1 of 1 found this helpful:
A durable little fan
about 3 years ago by Cjhazdroid verified purchaser
I’ve had this running 24/7 for about a year at 12v. Nice air flow and with a screen over it and good air quality
this thing has been a champ. However even with a vibration dampener and keeping it completely clean it is still
a bit louder than I would like. I either need a bigger living room or a quieter fan, the latter being cheaper.
2 of 2 found this helpful:
Way better than computer fans
about 3 years ago by Member #581642 verified purchaser
I’ve got a kegerator, and the best way to keep your beer from foaming (and to get a really cold pour) is to blow
cold air into the faucet tower. All of the how-to’s on the internet say to use a computer fan and build a housing.
This fan is a couple of magnitudes better, absolutely the best, it has the power to really push some air. Highly
recommended.
1 of 1 found this helpful:
Great Fan
about 2 years ago by hesperaux verified purchaser
I ordered this on a whim, as part of a larger order. It was cheap, so I said why not. I use it almost every day now
to cool my face! I hooked it to my power supply and whenever I get warm, I turn it on and feel the beautiful
breeze of awesomeness. It’s quite loud, but if desired you can reduce the voltage (it’s not a PWM fan). At
around 8.5-9.5VDC it is quiet enough for me while still being good at cooling. For people that need a strong
burst of directed air, look no further. Only thing missing from this fan is a grill on the intake (wouldn’t want to
trap my finger in there as it spins). Quite loud, very powerful air pressure (16CFM is a lot coming out of a
33mm diameter hole). Recommended!
1 of 1 found this helpful:
They work, but not very powerful
about 3 years ago by Member #610303 verified purchaser
We bought four of these to inflate a couple of Halloween costumes. Two were not powerful enough to keep a
costume made from parachute ripstop nylon that measured about 7.5 cubic feet inflated. We tested the
costumes with a shop vac, and they inflated just fine, so we thought that 16 cfm would be enough for mobile
use. Sadly, not sure they put out that much air.
We will most likely use these for other projects.
Dud delivery
about 3 years ago by Member #696568 verified purchaser
Bought 2, 2 arrived one smashed and the other not working. Poorly packed in a box with no packaging to stop
it moving around. No real surprise that 2 plastic items in an empty box were smashed.
What a joke…
Single T replied on July 24, 2015:
Sorry to hear this. We’ll contact you directly about your situation. Thanks!
Nice Blower
about 2 years ago by Member #738454 verified purchaser
Moves a considerable amount of air for its size. Not sure how long they last, but for the price, they’re a good
value.
Decent throughput, weak static pressure.
about 2 years ago by Member #740738 verified purchaser
Static pressure was weaker than expected. Bought some of these for use on a 3D printer with cooling shrouds.
Airflow through the shrouds was far less than through tubing.
Shrouds published at: https://forum.lulzbot.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=2901
Worked great for me
about 2 years ago by Member #749057 verified purchaser
Fit exactly and runs better than the original
Works awesome!
about 2 years ago by Member #765469 verified purchaser
Hooked it to some pic pipe to make a boxing glove dryer and it works awesome!
No enough static pressure
about 2 years ago by Member #813171 verified purchaser
Not enough static pressure for my purpose. Intended to use this with a blowpipe torch for jewelry making.
Search continues.
For now I just use my lungs.
Junk
about a year ago by Member #825675 verified purchaser
I bought 2 of these. They both showed up broken.
They quickly sent 2 more. One of the 2 was broken.
Returning them all. If they show up broke, how long will they last under use?
ROB-24601 replied on August 19, 2016:
Sorry to hear this. Glad we were able to help you resolve it.
Dead on arrival
about a year ago by ProxyProdigy verified purchaser
The clips on the case are all broken, preventing it from holding together. The fan on the inside was broken
away from the enclosure and it doesn’t look like glue would hold it in place when in use. And, when applying
power the fan doesn’t turn on at all.
Looks like others have commented about also receiving defective products. Won’t be ordering this thing again!
ROB-24601 replied on December 6, 2016:
Sorry to hear that. We’re going to contact you directly to get this resolved.
Keep your soldering iron handy
about 8 months ago by Member #688156 verified purchaser
Both the black and red wires just fell off unexpectedly. Worst soldering job I’ve ever seen. I’m willing to bet poor
soldering is the reason it didn’t work for some of the other reviewers. It seems to work fine after reattaching the
wires.
Just what I need.
about 3 months ago by Member #606166 verified purchaser
Every holiday we put airblown decorations in our yard. For Christmas we put 60+ out for the town people to
bring their children and grandchildren to see. We get hundreds of little visitors. These fans are a great
replacement for the fans in the decorations. The have the cfm to keep them well inflated.
I'd give it 5 stars but...
about 3 years ago by Member #659708 verified purchaser
I ordered 2 of these blower fans. One worked and the other one didn’t. The one that works does what i need it
to do just fine. I guess cheapo’s are hit or miss, but for the price, if you get one that works, you’ve made a
great little deal!!! Good luck :)
Toni_K replied on March 31, 2015:
Sorry to hear you got a bad unit! Please contact techsupport@sparkfun dot com with your order
number and they should be able to help you out with a replacement.
Ideal product for my application(s)
about 3 years ago by Member #640186 verified purchaser
I have purchased eight so far and used four of them. I have had no problems with them so far. They are a little
too noisy for my main application running on 12 Volts, but are great @ 6 Volts. Since I primarily use 12 volt
batteries, I am looking for an affordable way to vary the voltage on them.
Fairly "stout" blower for 12vdc
about 3 years ago by Member #391626 verified purchaser
It is a fairly strong blower and I’d agree with the SF description that it does seem like more that 16cfm. It is
however almost 100% plastic and of “snap together” construction. And it is somewhat noisy (as in vibration).
Nevertheless for you just can’t go wrong!!!!
It's resilient!
about 3 years ago by Cryocrat verified purchaser
So I’m trying to make something to suck up solder fumes in an attempt to avoid lead poisoning or something.
So I thought this would be a good fan for that; just run power into it backwards and it’ll spin the other way and
suck instead of blow. Well not quite. Long story short, I opened the thing up and poked around a bit. Looks like
it’s a brushless type motor, so it won’t spin backwards. And if you put power into it wrong for very long,
something releases it’s magic smoke. HOWEVER the fan still works! When powered the right way of course. I
haven’t used it for very long seeing as it’s not what I needed for my current project, but this fan moves a lot of
air!
5 star 4
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